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Thursday, February 12, 2009

Homemade Graham Crackers...

One of our favorite snacks is a plateful of graham crackers, a spoonful of fluff and a scoop of peanut butter. I was going to pick up some more grahams this weekend while we were at the market, but when I remembered that we had been saving a recipe for a homemade batch, I waited and decided to set some time aside today to make them instead!

We had almost everything already on hand to make these Graham Crackers, but I was missing one ingredient - graham flour! While basically whole wheat flour, what makes this flour different is that the parts of the wheat kernel, the bran, germ, and endosperm, are actually ground separately, rather than in one fell swoop for a more coarse texture. You might be able to find this in your regular grocery store, probably near the natural/organic section, but you'll definitely be able to find it at a local co-op or health food store.

Conveniently done in the food processor, the dough for these sweet crackers came together in a snap - you'll notice that we used dark brown sugar and while you could use light, the molasses-rich dark sugar makes these a bit more special. When the dry ingredients were whirled around the food processor with chunks of cold butter, resulting in a cornmeal-like texture, the ingredients were moistened with molasses, sticky golden syrup, milk and vanilla. We used the golden syrup (Lyle's) to bring in a slight burnt sugar/caramel note into these crackers, but using all molasses would be appropriate for a more robust background. If you don't happen to have a food processor by the way, whisk up the dry ingredients, find that trusty pastry blender and cut the butter in that way.

The dough isn't too sticky, but to roll the dough thin enough without having to cover it in additional flour, we used sheets of parchment paper under the dough as well as on top. You'll want to cut the crackers to whatever size you desire using a pizza cutter to speed the process along... however, don't try and separate them apart - just leave them all on the parchment paper and slide the whole shebang right onto the baking sheet. To keep these crackers smooth and flat, don't forget to take a fork and prick the top of the dough all over to give the air someplace to escape as these bake.

Because the dough is fairly dark already, doneness can be tough to spot - they are ready to come out when the edges have started to darken and the crackers are set. Since you already cut them to size, once baked and cooled, you will be able to effortlessly snap them apart. Crisp, just sweet enough and you exactly what ingredients went into them, I think it may be tough to go back to store bought crackers after this. Want a more substantial graham cracker? Just roll them a bit thicker and bake them a few minutes longer. While not as easy as running to the store, Jeff and I both thought that it was definitely worth the minimal effort it took to prepare these.

I know rolling out dough can be problematic sometimes, especially trying to get it to the right thickness, but Jeff got me these rolling pin bands a few years ago and it takes the guesswork right out of it. They do somewhat limit how wide you can let the dough get, but in the rare times that has come up, I'd just divide the dough in half and work with it in two parts. Peanut butter and fluff will make an appearance with these, but you can bet they will be sandwiched with a couple hunks of dark chocolate and a marshmallow for a decadent s'more?!

So Awesome! I live in Korea where it seems next to impossible for me to get graham crackers, unless I enlist into the army. My wife is pregnant and has been craving s'mores. Just before we went to the supermarket I thought to myself I should search for a graham cracker recipe. I came home and didn't even search there it was just on the front page of tastespotting. How perfect was that! Thanks so much. Now, I just have to find graham flour. That might be worth shipping here though, I'll have to look into it more. Anyhow, thanks again!

Hi Joe!I love graham crackers and make the recipe I have posted in my blog all the time (usually every couple weeks or more often). I don't even buy store bought graham crackers anymore.Graham crackers are my favorite type of cookies/sweet crackers!I don't like molasses though... do you think the recipe would work if I subbed agave nectar (or maybe honey) for the molasses in your recipe?I love the way you cut your crackers! I usually do mine with fun cookie cutters, that way my son have fun eating them too!Oh, I have even added tiny pieces/shaves of chocolate (made by cutting a chocolate chunk/bar with serrated knife) to my dough and made Chocolate Chip Graham Crackers!Ana

Ana - Maybe, but I've never worked with Agave much. Though, I do have to say that we didn't think the molasses was very strong, especially since we cut the amount with Golden Syrup. That is a brilliant idea to add the chocolate!

Just as an FYI for those that are looking for this flour - I found it at Walmart right by the regular flour. (I actually bought it because one of my recipes called for whole wheat, and didn't realize it was graham flour).

It will be nice to make my son these, as most of the commercial ones have honey in them, and kids under one year old should not have honey due to the risk of botulism.